The present invention is described herein with reference to “tobacco industry products”. A tobacco industry product as referred to herein is any item made in, or sold by the tobacco industry, typically including a) cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, tobacco for pipes or for roll-your-own cigarettes, (whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes); b) non-smoking products incorporating tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes such as snuff, snus, hard tobacco, and heat-not-burn products; and c) non-tobacco products such as for example aerosol delivery devices, inhalers, lozenges and gum. This list is not intended to be exclusive, but merely illustrates a range of products which are made and sold in the tobacco industry.
Menthol-flavoured cigarettes are well-known in the art and comprise a tobacco-based cigarette to which menthol flavouring is added. When consumed, the user experiences the taste of menthol.
Cigarettes are contained and sold to consumers in cigarette packs which are typically sealed during manufacture to maintain the freshness of the product contained therein. However, once the pack is opened, the product's freshness deteriorates over time. The tobacco of the cigarettes can become undesirably dry once the pack is opened. Also, the cigarettes may be provided with a flavourant during manufacture, such as menthol, and over time, the menthol flavouring may escape from the product with the result that the consumer experiences menthol levels in the products which are below those prescribed by the manufacturer. Eventually, the menthol flavouring of products contained in an opened pack can be lost to an extent where the article becomes undesirable to the consumer.